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It’s that time again! No, it’s not just any ordinary Wednesday, but it’s #NationalDogDay!

Is it just me, or is just about every-other-day some sort of hashtag something-or-other? #NationalDanceDay, #NationalDoughnutDay, #NationalWatermelonDay- exactly who is in charge of making up these supposed “national” holidays? Well-played Instagram, you’re giving us more and more excuses to post unnecessary photos of food on a daily basis. And who doesn’t love trending topics on social media? Don’t get me wrong, I plan to take full advantage of #NationalDogDay by kicking off this week’s Five Things with some pictures of adorable puppies, courtesy of Buzzfeed, of course!

This was captioned: “Look at this dog, who’s not quite sure how he got there or how to get down, but he damn sure doesn’t want to admit it.” His guilty face and slight confusion says it all. Now you can say you’ve gotten your oversize puppy fix for the week!

Speaking of oversize puppies, I found this chubby cat looking rather regal enduring the hot weather we’ve been having lately. Or perhaps she was just staring at the birds outside? Either way, she’s quite the entertaining subject.

I’ve been spending a bit of time wandering about airports lately, and these fabulous Essie vending machines seem to have become somewhat of a fixture. Sure, why not give yourself a fun mani while waiting for your delayed flight? It seems like a great way to pass the time!

@Mallorylucille, designlovefest.com

My good friend Emily shared this beautiful design with me on my birthday. It’s from artist Mallory Lucille Rose, by way of DesignLoveFest. I think it would make a great wall print, don’t you?

If you read my previous post, you’ll recall that I went on some Las Vegas adventures quite recently. The photo above is from my friends’ Bellagio suite overlooking The Strip. Pictured is the “chandelier” that hung over their formal dining table. Not too shabby…

I was trying to get through the drudgery of my evening commute, catching up on my Bloglovin’ feed, when I stumbled across blogger and florist Keira Lennox’s latest post on her blog, A Pretty Penny. She’s right- blogging consistently is hard, especially with a full-time job and the rest of your life to manage. When do all you full-time bloggers have time to do your dishes?! I too have recently gotten hooked on The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix, and then there are all the amazing places to eat and cocktails to have around the Bay Area. I’m beginning to discover that I have a slight propensity to multi-task a little too much. As I write this, I’m also trying to balance watching re-runs, a video on Youtube, keep up a text conversation with one of my girlfriends, and whiten my teeth. Too many things, yes? Sometimes I find myself just wanting to lay in bed and stare at the ceiling for a bit. Luckily, I can only do that for so long before I find myself jumping up to do the next thing! We all need a break every-once-in-a-while, and it’s moments like those that prompt me to get up and write all over again. One day at a time, I guess! With that…here are this week’s Five Things!

I got to spend some time at a lovely evening farmer’s market this week. The whole thing was oddly picturesque- there’s just something about walking down the street with a big bunch of dahlia’s, you can’t help but be in a good mood.

It’s not a birthday celebration without a candle and little crème brûlée. This last year’s birthday was extra-fancy, if I may say. I’m already very much looking forward to the next one!

I spent my post-birthday weekend wine tasting in Edna Valley, just outside of San Luis Obispo. Apparently, at 28 you can only drink so much wine before you have to sit down. My good friend Maren and I lasted for about two tastings before we needed a nap. Pictured is Claiborne & Churchill Winery’s latest bottle of rosé , named after one of the founder’s daughters: Cuvée Elizabeth.

Ivette Ivens/ ivetteivens.com

Everyone I know knows that I have a mild obsession with French Bulldogs. When this article was published on Buzzfeed two days ago, I had a number of people sending me the link within hours. Photographer Ivette Ivens’ work pretty much went viral from all the cute. After all, baby + wrinkled puppy= instant happiness.

While it’s nice having a break from being in the studio every day, I find myself really missing ballet class. And having a hard time mustering up the energy to make it through an entire evening class. I do like popping in for the occasional barre, or taking yoga class.

It’s Wednesday! (Hooray…?) This halfway point in the week tends to bring out a little crazy in the best of us. To reference that infamous Geico commercial: it’s Hump Day! One thing I do look forward at this point in the week is being able to put all the little things that I collect on my phone in one place. I enjoy that my Five Things doesn’t have to be thematic, or even make much sense. They’re here just for the heck of it, sort of like an inspiration board, or, for those of you social media fanatics, a vastly simplified version of Pinterest.

We’ll start at Thing #1, and go from there!

I had the most wonderful latte pick-me-up this afternoon at 20th Century Cafe in San Francisco. This European-style cafe is only a few blocks from my office, and couldn’t be more charming.

After a particularly long few weeks at the office, my kind coworkers surprised me with this card and some flowers. I love that we’re an office of many talents; my coworker Ruth does the most amazing pet portraits, and, knowing about my mild obsession with French Bulldogs, created this original ink sketch for me! This sleeping puppy lives at my desk and makes me happy.

On my latest trip to St. Helena, I visited the tasting room at Merryvale Vineyards. Aside from their very likable staff and lovely wines, they had some very interesting literature on display. Yes, there’s an entire book dedicated to the cats that prowl around the local vineyards. There’s also a Wine Dogs, just in case you were wondering.

My friends and I recently had a blast-from-the-past with dinner at Woodstock’s Pizza, one of the popular college haunts in Santa Barbara. What I love the best is their Cinnabread.I would always order way too much and eat the leftovers for breakfast the next day. I have no regrets.

While I’m lamenting the lack of sun here in the Bay Area, I can still reminisce about my recent beach vacation. Did you know that the beaches in Capitola (pictured above) have been a tourist destination since the early 1900s? Not much has changed, really. It’s still such a beautiful place.

Of course I’m not writing to you today already in my pajamas, in bed, watching horrible TLC reality shows. And I certainly didn’t do breakfast-for-dinner today either. I’m much to refined for that.

In all seriousness, I’ve heard a number of people (including myself) say that it’s been quite the crazy week. Is it the weather here in the bay area? Something in the air (besides pollen)? I don’t know. What I do know is that it doesn’t feel quite the same without my Five Things. In the meantime, I’m sitting on a number of posts that are long overdue. Remember the 20th Anniversary Smuin Ballet Gala I attended last year? Well, yours truly worked at this year’s very same gala. I’ve also conducted my very first interview ever, and have done quite a bit of thrifting and cocktailing as well. In the meantime, take a look at these five things from my life:

I had my first pavlova ever at my family’s Easter dinner. At first an entirely meringue-based desert seems like it might be a little bland, but I was totally wrong. Topped with lemon and berry mousse, it’s like eating delicious air. Which means negative calories, right?

I scored some fantastic seats for San Francisco Ballet’s Program 7 this week. Go check out The List, if you’re not already on it. Who can say no to $25 ballet tickets?!

While dashing through life, this beautiful rose given to me by the boss lady somehow ended up in a coffee cup. I meant for this to be only a temporary vase, but liked it so much I decided to leave it be. I can’t get over how beautiful the colors look together.

I’ve been hearing a lot about these trendy Quay Sunglasses from Australia. I snapped this selfie the other day hoping to get a friend’s opinion on them, and I must say, I quickly realized they were a little too over-sized for my pea head. I do love how unique their designs are, nonetheless.

It’s been a while since my plus-sized cat, Buttercup, found her way onto Watch Me Juggle. I believe she made her first appearance on my very first “Five Things” ever. She’s so photogenic, I’m convinced she knows exactly when a camera is near.

Thank God we’re halfway through the week. I know, I know, it’s only Wednesday, but look on the bright side, at least it’s not Monday. My schedule has suddenly gone from 0 to 50 in the course of a few days. Remember way back in the day when I posted about studying for the CBEST? Well, I’ve finally been hired as a substitute for the local school district. Perhaps the most encouraging this is when, upon sharing the news with my students, that they all seem so excited to have their dance teacher making guest appearances in their school. It’s a bit of a change, but I’m just taking things day by day. It’s also ‘Five Things’ day, so let’s hop to it!

First off, I bring you an unnecessary overload of cute for the day. Truthfully, it’s probably enough cute to last you the whole month.

I CAN’T EVEN. I DIED…I AM DEAD. Let’s face it, if I was the owner of 4 pounds of wrinkles I could dress up in baby clothes and feed lettuce, I would never leave the house. You would find me in my pajamas, rolling on the ground with the thing, only leaving the house to buy it more food. And myself more coffee. Perhaps I’m not ready for pet ownership.

Lovely Alameda roses on an afternoon walk.

A bit of a throwback to one of my last performances with my partner Ryan.

Today is World Ballet Day! I got to watch some of San Francisco Ballet’s live-stream rehearsals. It was such a lovely experience, and a wonderful idea. I hope they do similar live streams in future. Because everyday is world ballet day for me.

Perhaps one of the best cards ever. Just another reason to go to the bookstore!

Photo c/o Rachel Lorencz

Being as inept with technology as I am, I couldn’t figure out how to pull this gem off of my photo stream in time to post it on last week’s Maddie the Dog cuteness. I do love this photo, though; mid-kiss, yet she did manage to get me on the nose.

Today, I wanted to introduce you to one of my newest friends: Maddie. Some of you have probably seen her here and there on my previous posts. Maddie technically doesn’t belong to me (even in the slightest bit), but I would take her home with me in a heartbeat. Technically, she’s my friend Rachel’s brother’s girl, but I like to think that she likes us best.

She really wanted me to play with her…

Ever since I can remember, pitbulls have gotten a bad rap. They’re supposedly unpredictable, and have a prediction for hostility or violence, even. My mind was thoroughly changed upon meeting Maddie. She’s perhaps one of the shyest dogs I’ve ever met, and has a knack for always looking a little bit sad with those her big human eyes of hers. Don’t get me wrong, once she gets to know you, the mere sight of you approaching will send her into an absolute frenzy of excitement. It’s enough to make anyone feel special. She doesn’t ask for much- no pets or scratches, and maybe the occasional treat. If you hold still long enough, she will absolutely lick you to death. This is not an exaggeration by any means- I do believe that the only thing that will deter her from licking you is if you wave your limbs frantically, as a moving target is quite difficult to hit. When I’m too tired to do this, I usually emit high-pitched noises, which is an entirely useless, but an appropriate reaction to a large dog deciding to lick your feet/knees/elbows repeatedly. Do any of you have a Maddie in your life? I’m certainly glad I do.